edwinh 0 Posted May 28, 2005 I'm hunting around for a compact underwater camera. Some cameras that I've considered are the Canon A95, Sony W7, Oly 7070, Fuji 810 and Fuji F10. I do know that Oly and 810 is in a different class from the rest. I find Oly's bulk a little too much to lug with all my dive gear. 810 is almost perfect in terms of size and performance, unfortunately the battery life is too short for my liking. Sony has a huge tendency to go "green" underwater. Canon A95 is general capable underwater and cheap. However, the shutter lag is a big put off. Now, F10 just caught my eye. Does anyone have any experience with the F10? With all the ups of F10, it is in the very end a point and shoot with almost no manual control over aperture and shutter. I would really appreciate any advise. Cheers! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
james 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Sorry, but I don't know of anyone here who has used that camera underwater. Hopefully I'm mistaken. I would suggest looking at other cameras as they are better supported for underwater use. Cheers James Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeO 5 Posted May 31, 2005 Now, F10 just caught my eye. Does anyone have any experience with the F10? With all the ups of F10, it is in the very end a point and shoot with almost no manual control over aperture and shutter. I would really appreciate any advise. Cheers! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think you've hit the nail on the head here. In my opinion, having some control over aperture and shutter is very important. The F810 is currently a better choice for underwater photography than the F10. Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
anthp 0 Posted June 1, 2005 Fuji F10 doesn't do RAW and the F810's battery is capable of filling a 1GB card with RAW images before it drains. How many shots are you planning on shooting per dive? The F10 is a pretty ordinary choice for UW. Even the A95 would be better with it's superior manual control. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edwinh 0 Posted June 2, 2005 After reading many 810 users' experiences, 810's battery hits red after 2 dives and sometimes in the middle of the 2nd dive, and around 90+ shots with flash. I would much prefer one where I can shot for 2-3 days without opening the housing. Oly 5060/7070 for one has a battery life of 5 hrs in the worse battery draining situation, that is much desired. Canon A95 with 2500mah batteries lasts 3 days of diving (4 dives per day, 50 min dives). I have been thinking alot about RAW. It takes around 6 seconds to record RAW (Oly 5060 experience), 9 sec on the Sony, 5 sec on the G6, shocking 9 sec on 8080, during which the camera more or less locks up. Isn't this very inconvenient underwater? I do know the advantages of shoot RAW. As for the F10, I've decided not to get it because I want control over aperture and shutter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
anthp 0 Posted June 2, 2005 Yes battery life is nowhere near as good as competitors, but RAW performance is considerably better. It takes the camera 5 seconds to write the RAW file to the card, but you actually see the shot on the LCD screen in less than one second. This gives you the opportunity to review the shots prior to "locking" the camera for 5 seconds during the writing process (it is only buffered, not written). If the shot is poorly exposed, or you poorly composed, you can simply select the erase button and shoot it again immediately. This only works if you have the camera set up to "preview" the shot, which is easy to do in the menu. I think it kinda makes up for the slow write time. But yes, battery is still an issue if you want to go all day diving without opening the housing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
james 0 Posted June 2, 2005 You will not be able to shoot for 2 or 3 days on one battery using ANY compact digital camera. Well, ok, I shouldn't say that - MAYBE if you only do one dive a day... I think your expectations are unrealistic. You'll probably want to download from your memory card at some point, so you'll have an opportunity to change batteries at that time. Personally I wouldn't wait 2-3 days between changing cards. Cheers James Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dmoss 0 Posted June 2, 2005 As a follow up to James's excellent advise....I sure wouldn't want to push my 5060 battery to 5 hours without changing it. It's a good idea to have a spare to put in after a couple of dives. You might get away with three dives on a single charge if you don't shoot much or do a lot of reviewing in the LCD. Missing a shot of a hammerhead right in front of me because of a dead battery would sure ruin MY day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
